What Her Heart Wishes (English Version)
by Fractoluminescence
Summary: When her mother dies, Lisbeth is sent to live with her father, whom she doesn't know. Who is no other than Kisuke Urahara. He isn't very enthousiastic about her arrival. And is going to do everything he can for her to leave, when all she is asking for is a welcoming home... (Translated from the story of Aurore Heart, in French)
1. Prologue

**So, it's the first time I'm using this thing, I just hope it is NOT going to bug again, because the first time it did...**

 **This story is a translated from the french story with the same name, written by Aurore Heart, with her permission. I wanted to translate it in English just because I like the story a lot and wanted more people to have access to it, since most stories seem to be in English on this website (and a lot in Spanish. I can't read them though)**

 **I speak both French and English, but I do mistakes (like anybody would) so please, if you see any spelling or grammar mistakes, feel free to tell me so I can change it.  
**

 **For reviews directed to the author, I'll be translating them to her, if you want to leave any about the plot.  
**

 **So I hope you will like it too, and enjoy your reading!**

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 **Prologue: A strange letter**

Kisuke Urahara listened distractedly to the conversation led by Isshin Kurosaki, bored to death. He didn't really feel like hearing the Soul Reaper discourse about his wife. He knew the story. He leaned against the wall, putting his hands behind his head, his bob slipping over his eyes, and was about to take a nap to escape the incessant babbling when Jinta bolted into the room shouting:

"Urahara-san! A letter for you!"

The blond lifted the corner of his hat, surprised. This correspondance could not be coming from the Soul Society, and he didn't see who could be writing to him. He took the letter that the teenager was handing him, and opened it before the curious eyes of Isshin and Tessai. It is at that moment that Yoruichi walked in, as if she had felt she would be able to bother him with this letter. He raised an eyebrow upon reading the heading, then progressively turned pale as he went on. It just... it just couldn't be possible.

"Hey! There's a photo too!" remarked the brunette, jumping up and down.

She bounded forward to take it, but Urahara held it out of her reach. The brunette returned to her spot, grumbeling, while grabbing a bottle of sake - he wondered where she had gotten it from. The blond looked at the picture, and immidiatly knew he was in deep trouble. He reread the letter quickly, and asked:

"Tessai, what day are we?"

"August 24th, wh...?"

"I'm leaving!"

Kisuke shot up and was about to flee, as one would say, when Yoruichi pinned him to the ground and snatched the letter from him.

"So, let's see what could possibly frighten our little Kisuke..."

She glanced rapidely at the paper, and burst out laughing.

"Is this a joke?! Hahaha our Kisuke is a dad! And his daughter is coming... Tomorrow! I understand now why you were in such a hurry..." she said, tousling his hair.

The blond grunted. The hopes of peace and quiet he had had since the end of the war with Aizen were gone now. And in addition the girl was 16. How could he deal with her? Even though according to what he had read, he didn't really have a choice, he was the only one the kid had left.

He sighed, resigned.

"Tessai, get a room ready for her, we'll have to deal with it."

"What about the Soul Society?" asked Isshin.

Urahara thought it through quickly, before concluding.

"There's no way I'm involving this child in my problems, and there's no way the Soul Society in knowing about her existence if it has no reason to be."

"In short, if it turns out she has no powers."

"Precisely."

Yoruichi, who felt ignored, made a big smile, before asking her name.

"She's called Lisbeth."

Her eyes widened.

"Her mother was European, even if she lived in Japan, I guess she chose the name accordingly," he said, shrugging.

"Say, what does she look like?"

But the blond wasn't listening, completly lost in his thoughts. He would have to hide his activities from the girl, account for the presence of Tessai, Jinta and Ururu. His head already ached, he that only yearned to be left in peace to make his experim... Darn, that's another thing he'd have to stop. He sighed again and crossed his fingers.

He'd have to convince her she didn't belong here, for her own safety.


	2. Chapter 1

**Sorry for the ones to which I said this chapter would come out the 5th, I just hadn't had the time to type it in one evening...**

 **There are some things I had a little trouble translating, like "tutoiement", which is a concept that just does not even** _ **exist**_ **in English! And also the words for shop, which in French are more numerous, so I just hope there isn't the word "shop" too much...**

 **I remind you the story is not mine but Aurore Heart's, so just keep in mind the French version of the story is a few chapters ahead of this one.**

 **Like the author, I should be posting once a month, so the next chapter should be up on June the 7th, but I say "should" because it happens sometimes that I don't have internet, though I normally won't have that problem until the summer holidays... (later note: I never kept up with this)  
**

 **Anyway, I had a lot of fun translating this, so enjoy your reading!**

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Lisbeth had her head resting against the window, her grey eyes wandering over the dull landscape without really contemplating it. Her thoughts constantly returned to this father she didn't know. Why hadn't her mother told her about him before? Maybe because she hoped her daughter would never have the need, or the wish, to know him. A tear ran down her cheek. She missed her mother terribly. All this because she been hit by a drunk driver's car. She dried the water droplet with her sleeve, when the crackling voice of the speaker announced the train was about to enter the Karakura railway station. The teenager stood up, and her strand of brown hair fell between her two eyes. How she hated this strand. But she couldn't resign herself to cut it. Her friend Haruka had told her one day that this strand of hair gave her a mysterious look and that she found it pretty, it was maybe because of that, who knows. She slipped on her blue coat that she had left on the seat and grabbed her two suitcases before going to the door. She wondered if her father had come to fetch her. Maybe he didn't care about her, maybe she was nothing but a thorn in his side that he would hurry to get rid of at the first opportunity. Maybe she had step-brothers or sisters... So many unanswered questions. Haruka would of slapped her head, ordering her to stop thinking until her head ached, but she couldn't help it, it was part of her nature. The train slowed down, then stopped, and the doors opened. Lisbeth picked up her suitcases one by one to lower them onto the platform, then followed herself. She scrutinized the crowd, hoping to reconize someone, when a young woman with dark skin and purple hair came up to her.

"Excuse me, would you be Urahara Lisbeth by any chance?"

The girl hesitated a moment before nodding, indeed, now that she was under her father's responsability she bore his name... The young woman introduced herself as Shihôin Yoruichi, a friend of her father's. She added, with a disdainful look that made the teenager smile, though she was still ticked off by the familiar way she addressed her:

"The news of your arrival disturbed that idiot so much he forgot to come fetch you, I had to do it instead."

The dark-skinned woman took with authority one of her suitcases before asking her to follow. Lisbeth took the other luggage and walked behind the young woman, a little intrigued, and ended up asking timidly:

"Are you uh... my father's girlfriend?"

Her nosed bumped into the brunette's back, who had brutally stopped at her question. She tended to her nose while waiting for the answer. Yoruichi burst out laughing before assuring her they were just childhood friends. That half reassured Lisbeth.

Outside, Yoruichi called a taxi and helped the girl put her luggage in the trunk before they climbed in.

During the entire trip a heavy silence reigned. The Soul Reaper did try asking questions, but after the teenager's only intervention, she only answered in monosyllables. In any case, the brunette had no more doubts about Kisuke being her father. Lisbeth had the same grey eyes as him, and a stand of brown hair fell between the two, just like her father. She must have gotten her hair from her mother though, for they were a reddish dark brown, and the girl had dyed some streaks bright red, which stood out a bit among the hair that flowed down to the middle of her back. She wondered what her personality might be like, but Lisbeth gave her the impression of being more serious than her father. She probably also liked being punctual, since on her right wrist was a pretty simple watch with a very worn band. The taxi dropped them off at the corner of the street, and after retrieving the girl's luggage, she gestured for her to follow.

Lisbeth dreaded this encounter. Her fingers, holding tightly onto the handle of her suitcase, shook slightly, and she wished she could shrink and hide in a hole to escape this meeting. Her father's friend led her to the front of a small shop, where the façade read "Urahara Shop". So her father held a shop. The building seemed pretty ancient, he might have inherited this shop from his predecessor. She stayed in front during an instant when rising voices were heard.

"Jinta! Help Ururu clean the shop!"

"But Tessai..."

"No buts! Go make yourself useful!"

A young red-haired boy came out gumbeling from the shop, and stopped upon seeing her.

"Who the hell are you?"

Yoruichi hit him on the head.

"Talk politely to people, Jinta! Especially since she's Urahara's daughter, a bit of respect! Oh by the way go tell him."

The kid didn't need to be told twice, and ran inside.

Lisbeth followed him with interest, and peered interrogatively at the shelves and displays, until Yoruichi pulled her to the back shop. But the teenager had gotten enough time to read one word. "Hollow". Maybe it was only her imagination, but she had already heard this word, in circumstances she would of prefered to forget. Her instincts warned her, especially when she started trying to distinguish the presences of the people in the house. It was something she had learned to do instinctively, and what she felt was far from helping her feel secure. She counted three unknown "presences" in addition to Jinta and Yoruichi. And two of them seemed very powerful to her. Where in the world had she ended up... She was walking behind Jinta when he opened a sliding door, calling out:

"Boss! Your daughter has arrived!"

"There's no need for you to shout Jinta, I am not deaf. What are you waiting for to let her in?"

The red turned around and gestured for her to come in. She walked forward into the room, and her eyes crossed others identical to hers. Her father. She scrutinized him, and her first thought was:

 _'Hell, who is this guy?'_


	3. Chapter 2

**Funny thing, when you're in England you're supposed to spell 'grey' and in the US 'gray' (info from my dictionary). But in -Man the US version is used, while it starts out in England! Spelling can be odd sometimes...  
**

 **I am SO sorry for the lateness! I literally skipped a whole month. I have no excuse. I'm SO SORRY! I'll try not doing that again without a good excuse. I am SO SO sorry!**

 **This chapter was particularly hard to translate in some parts, so if you see something that sounds wrong or that you think of a better way to say it, please tell me. It would be of great help...**

 **(PS: Does the word 'lateness' actually exist? I used it when I started translating the next chapter because I didn't know what to put there, but if you have some better word it is welcome!)**

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Kisuke looked at his daughter and had a moment of glitching. She had a reiatsu, barely tangible, but he wasn't able to define it. Like if it fluctuated. Like if it was alive. He got a feeling of foreboding. His daughter would bring trouble his way if he put her in contact with the Soul Society.

He stood up to welcome her, and the blond saw a tinge of disappointment slip into Lisbeth's grey eyes. He figured he didn't look like what she expected, but this glint vanished quickly, replaced by a soft smile, and Kisuke found she was living portrait of her mother. He offered her a seat, then they talked a bit, mostly about her schooling. He had no other choice than to register her in the Karakura high school, hoping she wouldn't end up in the young Kurosaki's class, he would have trouble justifying certain things if the orange-haired boy made himself nosy. He soon noticed she was reserved and calm, and even when he introduced her to the rest of the inhabitants she didn't dispose of her composure. If Kisuke had to find a comparison, he would have said she was a porcelain doll, with that frozen expression. Maybe she wasn't at ease... He then showed her where her room was and let her settle down, promising he would come fetch her for supper.

As soon as he had exited the room, pulling the sliding door (shut), Lisbeth opened her suitcase and pulled out her computer, placing it on the ground. She turned it on, restless inside, and using the town network she opened up the website of the high school her father intended to put her in. She then looked up more information about the town, and noticed that some events were strange or unexplained. In greater number than in most of Japan's cities. Her sixth sense triggered the alarm bell. She closed her computer, annoyed, preferring to believe it was nothing serious, only simple coincidences... Even though deep down she knew she would have to keep a low profile. She then took out her phone and typed hastily, but when she was about to send the message she hesitated, her thumb hovering over the screen. Should she really talk about this to Haruka? She had already gotten her into enough trouble, she wasn't going to bother her with mere assumptions. She cleared the text message, replacing it with a plain "I've arrived", knowing her friend would be enthusiastic enough for both of them. The brunette's face darkened at the thought of her friend, but she shook her head, now wasn't the time for self-pity. She stood up and undertook to tidy her things, and to change. She got rid of her clothes crumpled from the trip, and piled threw them in a heap in a corner, before taking clean jeans, a white sweater and pulling out worn out slippers, but that gave her the comforting feeling of being home. Someone knocked and opened the door.

Her father.

His face was hidden by his bob, she couldn't see his eyes and that bothered her. She couldn't read the emotions on his face, but had the uncomfortable feeling he didn't want her here. He raised his head, and Lisbeth felt pierced by a gaze similar to hers, and during a short instant it seemed to her that nothing escaped him. Then the adult had a silly smile and this feeling vanished, giving way to annoyance. How could this guy be her father, seriously? If there hadn't been the eye color and the strand that fell over the nose, she would have had doubts.

"I was coming to tell you we are about to have dinner, if you'd like to follow me."

Lisbeth fleetingly asked herself how he would react if she answered him childishly that she didn't want to follow him. This thought made her smile. She walked behind her father to get to the dining room. The smell of food got to her, and the brunette's eyes widened upon seeing the meal, prepared for at least fifteen people. Upon counting mentally she found however that they were only six, her included...

"Well, I'm going now, thank you for everything Urahara-san."

Lisbeth turned her head towards the voice and found herself facing a young girl with tied-back black hair, dressed in sports clothes, who held a plastic bag in her hand.

"No problem, young Kurosaki, be careful while going home."

The young woman walked by the flabbergasted brunette, simply nodding to her, and walked out. Her father informed her.

"She is called Kurosaki Karin, she is a pretty regular customer. I didn't get the time to introduce you to each other, another time maybe."

Lisbeth nodded, and sat at the table.

Once mealtime was finished, she returned to her room, and dressed warmly. The room was pretty large, but most importantly was the window leading outside. If her father had been aware of her background, he never would have set her in this room.

She liked going for walks at night, feel the city's heart vibrate, and above all during her getaways, she helped people. Well, people... a big word, they were only wandering souls. She didn't know why she could see them since she was small, but she didn't hesitate to seize the opportunity to help them depart, or to help grant their last wishes. Of course she wasn't sheltered from attacks, but until then she had always been lucky. Anyway, she didn't like being locked in, she absolutely needed to go outside, and today she had spent nearly all of her day in the train. Horrible.

She opened the window and slipped outside, being careful not to make any noise. Then once she was far from her residence she relaxed. She used this walk to get to know the town, and paused on a big bridge that crossed a river. Cars went by on the road behind her, but she was oblivious to them. She simply enjoyed this feeling of freedom, forgetting all her worries.

Tomorrow she would have to enter a new high school in the middle of the year, and try and make new friends...

She didn't care. Only the present moment mattered. A howling suddenly reverberated in the air, and she froze. A Hollow. She had to head back, and quickly. She started walking, taking big steps, trying not to be scared. The last time she had encountered one of these creatures she had nearly gotten killed. And Haruka too. She went up the streets, getting to the front of her father's shop. She slipped into her room and changed quickly before going to bed.

Kisuke drew his bob over his eyes and sighed. His daughter had just gotten home, and her reiatsu had seemed shaken. He didn't like this. He would have liked to forbidden her to go out, but he could be sure she would take it very badly. Yoruichi brutally appeared right within his sight.

"I suppose you have been following her Yoruichi?"

"Yes, I have. She simply went for a walk through town but... There was a Hollow in town, and when he howled she came back hurriedly, like if she had heard it.

She didn't need to go on, Kisuke had understood. His daughter saw spirits, and had probably already met a Hollow. Great, his tranquility really was going to shatter. There was no way she was leaving in these conditions. Especially if again he wanted to prevent further problems with the Soul Society.

Because people always found a way to say it was his fault.


	4. Chapter 3

**Oh my God, I thought I'd have more internet than this... I'm really REALLY sorry for the wait, but this time I really have the excuse of not having internet for SO long... Can we still consider it summer holidays?**

 **Oops, the word 'brun' has no equivalent in English, so I had to put 'boy' and so it gets repeated more often, since I already put it in the text... Plus, the words 'roux' and 'rouquin' don't exist either, which is kind of annoying since I have to put 'orange-haired boy' each time, which is kind of too long...**

 **Anyway, I hope you like this chapter too! I'm really sorry for the wait, but I couldn't do much about it... And this is one of the only days I'll have at all during the rest of the vacation, so...**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, even if my translation is getting a little left behind by the original version. Good reading!**

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Lisbeth was nervous. She was starting out halfway through the school year, in a new school, of which she additionally didn't like the headmaster. She fidgeted with her collar as he knocked on her new classroom's door, then opened it. She let go of her uniform's collar and followed him, finding herself confronted with a class of thirty students who had their eyes locked on her. She mechanically moved her old watch about her wrist to calm down, then introduced herself. As she wrote her name on the board, she broke the chalk out of nervousness, however no-one laughed. Why was she that anxious again? Oh, right, she was scared of not being able to make new friends without putting them in danger one day or another. She had already been very lucky that Haruka had forgiven her when they had nearly gotten killed by a Hollow. Supposedly because it wasn't the brunette's fault if they were attracted to her.

After introducing herself, Lisbeth went to sit in the back, at a table near the window where there wasn't anybody. She took out her things before remembering she was in English class. Her mother was British, and had insisted that she spoke only this language at home, resulting in the fact that the brunette felt equally at ease with both languages. She sighed, English classes at school were horribly boring... And Haruka wasn't there to cheer her up. She discreetly took out a novel that she placed in her notebook, and pretended to listen. Until an orange-haired boy burst into the room, and apologized for his lateness.

"Go sit yourself down Ichigo before taking up more of our time."

Lisbeth looked around the classroom and made a face when she saw the only space left empty was the one next to her. The so-called Ichigo came and sat there, and carelessly took out his things.

"You're new?" he asked, scrutinizing her.

"Yes."

"What's your name?"

Her new neighbor was irritating, she didn't necessarily feel like talking to him... She nonetheless answered as politely as she could. However the boy must have noticed she didn't seem very pleased of talking to him, and sighed.

"You know, you can tell me if I bother you. Anyway, I'm Kurosaki Ichigo."

She dropped her book. A name identical to the one of yesterday's young visitor? A simple coincidence would be unlikely... They must be from the same family. The squinted slightly, and detailed her interlocutor closely. If you really looked, there was indeed a bit of a similarity.

"Don't you have a little sister named Karin?" she asked.

Immediately the orange-haired boy became more alert, and she classified him as a protective older brother. Like Naoki, Haruka's brother. She also missed him, though less than her best friend. But their group... No, not really. Her neighbor then asked her why she asked him that question.

"It's just that I met her at my father's shop, yesterday. She seemed exhausted," remembered the brunette.

The teenager's face tensed, apparently disturbed by the remark, and Lisbeth apologized. She knew it wasn't her business. The period ended, and Ichigo invited her to come eat lunch with him and his friends, so he could introduce her to them.

"No, not today, I have to call a friend, another day, maybe..."

And she left hastily. She wanted to take her time to make friends, friends to whom she could tell she saw spirits, and what the orange-haired boy suggested seemed to her... too quick. And she truly had a phone call to make.

She went aside a bot from the other students, took out her cell phone and searched her contacts for the number she wanted, then called.

"Haruka?"

"YEEEEEEEEEES MY DEAR LISBETH!"

She nearly would have pulled the phone away from her ear. Haruka's enthusiasm would end up killing her one day.

"Hey calm down, or I hang up," she warned, laughing.

"You wouldn't do that," declared her friend confidently, before asking, curious: "So?"

Lisbeth felt her heart sink. She didn't really wish to tell her friend she didn't see how she could stay, that she wanted to leave... But the young woman saw through the brunette's silence.

"What's going on?"

"My father is an idiot who doesn't want me here and I've got the feeling that I've ended up in a town particularly exposed to Hollows..."

"You know you can come over to my house if you need to, or to the Headquarters."

"The old man would be okay with it, you think?"

"He helped with controlling and hiding your powers, I don't think he'd refuse. I'll ask him."

"Thank you Haruka."

They went on chatting about this and that, and when she hung up the brunette felt appeased. If ever... If ever she needed it, her friend would be there to support her, along with, despite her doubts, _Devil's Game_... But she didn't trust them. They had helped Haruka and her, and her friend was part of that organization, but that was all. _She_ was not part of them.

The afternoon's classes went by slowly, and she escaped from them gladly.

She left a message to her father saying she would be home late. She felt like walking, to free herself from all this tension accumulated while she was stuck in school. She was walking about the town center, when she heard a Hollow howl. Very close. But its presence disappeared almost instantly. Like if... Like if someone had killed it. Curious, but cautious still, swearing she would flee at the slightest problem, she walked briskly in the cry's direction, when she came face to face with a teen of her age. It was a boy with glasses, black hair and of medium height, wearing a white outfit adorned with two blue stripes made to look like a cross.

"Excuse me," he said impatiently as he walked past her.

Lisbeth turned around to address him, when a Hollow sprang up in front of them. It looked like a mixture between a hyena and an ostrich. A cat-like body, grey with brown spots, on which had developed two wings made of white feathers, a beak-shaped mask, and the usual hole in the chest, a smell of decay floating around it. How nauseating... Hell, this one she hadn't felt it coming, _and_ there was someone with her. She didn't want to put him in danger... Her mind rewinded as she remembered the time when she found herself facing one of these creatures, and Haruka had come close to dying.

No. She mustn't think about it. She shook her head and didn't hesitate a moment: she grabbed the boy's sleeve and pulled him after her.

"Hey, what's up with you?" said the young man angrily.

"I'm saving your life," retorted the brunette.

She shoved him into an adjacent street and shouted for him to run, when she heard a growl. She looked behind them and saw the monster had climbed up to the rooftops to follow them. She stopped abruptly. If it had left the ground then she could stop him long enough to flee. She breathed in deeply and focused, she wouldn't be able to do it if she panicked. But an arrow darted from behind her and wounded the monster, making it disappear as a myriad of specks of light.

"You can see them," analyzed a voice.

She turned to face the boy she had pulled to safety, and that was now armed with a huge bow that he put away, turning it into a simple pendant, before pushing his glasses up his nose with the tip of his fingers.

"You too," she retorted uneasily.

"What were you about to do?"

"Defend us. You did it for me."

"What are you? A Quincy? A Soul Reaper?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I've never known. I just see spirits ever since I was very small... and Hollows, too. I was taught how to defend myself against them. And also, what's a Quincy? And a Soul Reaper? What are you talking about?"

The boy sighed.

"Forget it. Just don't come across me, that's all. And don't attack Hollows. I am here to kill them."

She nodded, and the boy was about to leave when she stopped him.

"Wait! If I need help, where can I find you?"

He turned around and tossed her a card. She caught it in its flight and read it.

"Karakura Hospital... But... Hey, wait!"

Except that the boy had vanished. Grumbling about rudeness she went home, while a young Quincy went to inform his father that there was someone in town that saw spirits... And that was apparently _not_ a Soul Reaper.


	5. Chapter 4

**Again, sorry for the long wait. I've been pretty taken up by the back-to-school period, but now everything is turning back to normal, so I've started translating again.**

 **I don't know at what rate I'll be able to publish but I'll try doing it as soon as I can, now that I'm getting used to it translating's become easier. I have many chapters to catch up anyway.**

 **So, here is the fourth chapter of What Her Heart Wishes, English version! Have a nice time reading.**

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"Say, do you want to come have lunch with us?" proposed Ichigo as Lisbeth stood up from her desk after the bell had rung.

The brunette with red strands of hair hesitated, but even if she had been hanging out with Ichigo and his friends for a whole month, while she had arrived two months ago, she still didn't really want to enter the group, protecting as much as she could her classmates by not revealing to them the existence of Hollows. Even if she liked them a lot, she couldn't force them to share her problems. The only one to whom she confided in was the young man she had met shortly after she moved in, Uryu. She had discovered, much to her surprise, that he was a friend of Ichigo's, and since then they had gotten closer. The young man had tried to discover what she knew exactly, but also what she was, which would always disturb Lisbeth, who had no idea. He had briefly explained to her what were Soul Reapers, Quincy and Arrancar, as well as Visored, and humans with high reiatsu, but he wasn't able to determine which group she belonged to, even if she didn't care. She was dangerous for those who did not see Hollows, that was the only thing that she was truly aware of.

She ended up accepting Ichigo's proposition and followed him to the roof where the whole group gathered to eat lunch. She greeted Orihime and Tatsuki, who were already there, and went to sit a bit to the side, before taking out the bento Tessai had made. The others arrived one by one, but something caught the brunette's attention. There was something odd in her acquaintances' reiatsu... It seemed... different. She shrugged, telling herself she was tired, but she wasn't the only one who had noticed it. Because while she was going home, Uryu caught up with her and asked if she too had felt the change in their friends. She nodded, intrigued, especially seeing her friend worried.

"Uryu... You're not hiding something from me, are you?"

He denied her claim, even if the Quincy was angry at himself for not explaining her more clearly what he was... As well as their group of friends, but he didn't trust her completely yet. Also, she was always very mysterious concerning her family, she had insisted on people calling her by her first name, refusing to convey her last name. She almost never talked about her past, and he had the feeling that seeing Hollows was not only usual to her, but that she had grown used to it. Even Kurosaki had taken a while. But her no, like if she saw those monsters since such a long time that it had stopped surprising her. He insisted on escorting her to her house, so as to make sure she was safe, but she politely refused.

"You noticed the disturbance of reiastu Ichigo has?" she asked to change the subject, feeling that the boy wouldn't go on about her powers, like always. Although she did hide the monster that was in her from him...

"Yes and no... I would've liked to ask him about it, but I'm not sure I'd have enough tact to get anything out of him..." he answered.

"You should try you know, he respects you a lot. Do you want us to stop by his house? Even if I have no idea where he lives," she said a little embarrassed, sliding her hand onto the back of her neck and sticking her tongue out.

The boy sighed, before grabbing her sleeve. He didn't really want to leave her all alone, he had a bad feeling.

"I'll show you," he grumbled, pushing his glasses up his nose.

He soon reached Ichigo's house, Lisbeth right behind him, before sighing, as he felt another reiatsu next to the orange-haired boy.

"Orihime," guessed the brunette next to him. "She was quicker than us," she thought out loud, looking up at the red-glowing sky, before a noise put her on guard.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered to her friend.

He nodded, and they scrutinized the town and buildings around them, until he pointed her a man with a white shirt and trousers on a power line. They glanced at each other.

This wasn't normal, or at least not for a human being. The stranger suddenly jumped away, green sparkles under his feet, and Lisbeth's eyes widened in surprise. It was just like the Fullbringers of _Devil's Game_. Like Haruka. That was not a good sign.

"Stay here," ordered her Uryu, before leaping after the man.

She tried stopping him, but she barely managed to brush his sleeve before he used a similar technique to follow, now she was sure about it, the Fullbringer. She started running, keeping her gaze on them, trying to stay at the same level as them. But suddenly the man turned to face Uryu, and another man, sword in hand, appeared in her sight, and she shouted to alert him. But too late. Uryu got hit by the sword and fell to the ground. She ran towards him, before one of the men, the one who had slashed at her friend, stepped down in between her and the boy lying on the ground, a pool of blood spreading from underneath him.

"I'm sorry, you weren't expected, but I cannot let you speak."

The sword came down on her before she had the time to defend herself, and everything went black around her.

Kisuke's head shot up when the telephone rang. He stood up grumbling, before picking up the receiver.

"Urahara shop, what can I do for you?"

"Urahara, since when do you have a daughter?" exclaimed a voice on the wire, one that he knew well.

"Ryûken, she's sixteen years old, so since sixteen years I'd say... even if I only learned about her existence a little more than two months ago, why? And how do you know about her?"

"She was attacked near Kurosaki's, and my son too, they were probably going home together... I don't know what happened, but she is severely hurt. You need to come. Urahara?"

The former Soul Reaper clenched the receiver in his hand, close to crushing it. Who? Who could of possibly hurt her daughter? True, he was doing all he could to keep her at a distance from him, but it was above all to protect her... He could not deny he liked her, and she was a clever opponent at shogi, that was a nice change.

"Very well, I'm coming," he answered drily, before hanging up.

A shadow rose up behind him.

"What are you going to do? Between the Soul Society that's starting to put their noses into my son's business, Ginjo's return and this attack, your daughter is no longer safe in Karakura. If ever the Soul Society discovers her... You said yourself that there were great chances of her being able to see Hollows.

The blond sighed, pulling his hat over his eyes.

"Really Isshin, I don't know, I don't know... I'm first going to go see her, I'll improvise after, it usually works," he said, shrugging, before leaving.

The former Soul Reaper watched his colleague go, his shoulders bent. The blond could say what he wanted, he had taken a liking to the girl, and would do anything to keep her away from the Soul Society. But like father, like daughter... There were high chances that the girl had inherited some specific traits from her father, like his own children.

Kisuke would not be able to lie to his daughter and the Soul Society forever.

Ichigo barged in Uryu's room, worried, while Orihime was already there. The Quincy, behind the curtain that kept his intimacy, was grumbling about the young girl telling him, before they heard voices rising in the room next door. They recognized the voice of their friend Lisbeth, but even more surprising... Urahara's. They fell silent, and eavesdropped even if unintentionally the argument in silence, astonished, as Ryûken came into his son's room.

"Since when do you care about me?! Like if I didn't know you considered me as a burden!"

"Calm down, Lisbeth, you've barely left the operating block..."

"But I don't care! All I notice is that you're only worried about me when it suits you or that you don't have the choice! Go away, I don't want to see you!"

"My daughter..."

"I FORBID YOU TO CALL ME THAT WAY! ONLY MOM HAD THE RIGHT TO!" yelled the young girl, before sobs were heard through the wall. "Go away," she repeated in tears, "go away."

They heard the door slam, and clogs echoing in the metallic corridor.

Ryûken spoke first.

"To be attacked and both left for dead... Yet you still have enough energy to contradict adults, frankly you resemble each other."

"Left for dead?" noticed Ichigo. "Uryu, who attacked you? Uryu, tell me who it was? Who dared? Tell where and how it happened!"

The Quincy asked him not to get involved, before lying. He didn't remember. He couldn't let Ichigo, without powers, deal with this case. He hoped that Lisbeth wouldn't say anything. His father, along with Ichigo and Orihime ended up leaving, until his father's angry shouting echoed from the room next door.

"Where has this foolish little girl gone? Does she really want to die or something?"

Uryu froze. Between the fact of learning that Lisbeth's father was Urahara or that the girl had vanished to who-knows-where while being badly injured... He didn't know what irritated or worried him the most.

Except there was one thing the Quincy was wrong about. Lisbeth was not badly injured... or at least wasn't anymore. The wound had already practically closed up, and she could nearly hear the little mocking disembodied voice in her mind laugh and make fun of her.

" _For once you are pretty glad I'm here to save your life... Once again._ "

The brunette gritted her teeth, and hurried to go back to her domicile, coming in through the window. She felt her father's reiatsu, and quickly hid her own so he wouldn't notice her. She packed her things quickly, before going through the window again and heading for the train station. She could no longer bare lying not only to her friends, but also to her father. That was what had triggered the quarrel just now, well, when she had reproached him of only worrying about her when it was necessary. He could worry about many things, she knew he was well aware of her lone night trips, however he had never stopped her, while this time it was still daytime and she had been with a friend, and he had dared to lecture her about it. Her heart ached, she had hoped that this silly guy would be able to do his fatherly duties, giving her a second home as her mother was dead... But he had done nothing of the kind, and now she was tired of it. So much that she had decided to join _Devil's Game_. At least they took good care of their members... And she would be able to ask questions about the two men who had attacked them. One of them was a Fullbringer, she was ready to bet.

She took a ticket at the counter, despite the time she'd need to wait, there wasn't any train for her town before dawn, which was in a few hours, and took out her phone to send a message to Haruka.

 **«I'm coming back. Tell** _ **Devil's Game**_ **that I've changed my mind.»**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hi again! Sorry for the long wait. Have been having lots of orienteering these last weekends (I just KNOW that's a lame excuse).**

 **Anyway. Have to tell you something: it might be ambiguous, but since I didn't know how to translate 'bob', I kept it as 'bob', even though internet tells me it's called a "bucket hat" or "sun hat". So, I keep calling it bob, but it's a bucket hat, just so you know... Tell me if you think it's a good idea for me to go back and change it.**

 **Another translation problem: the insults. Beside from manga I have near to no other source, and I read and watch all my manga in French, so... XD**

 **Again, please tell me if you think of a better translation for any bits of this chapter, some parts I've had to reformulate the sentence for it to be grammatically correct, but if you have a better idea or if you see I've made a mistake... Please tell me about it!**

 **Thanks again to the original author for this awesome story.**

 **Besides that, enjoy your reading!**

* * *

Kisuke heard that damn phone ring for the second time that night, when he'd just come back from the hospital, where his daughter had made it clear that she didn't want to see him. He picked it up tiredly, and closed his eyes when he heard Ryûken's voice on the other end. He sighed annoyingly.

"If it's to criticize me about my behavior towards my daughter, I don't need your advice, and I above all I don't want it."

"I wouldn't have bothered to call for such a thing, your daughter stole away."

The bucket hat-wearing man sat on the floor, groggy.

"Sorry?! Can you repeat that?!"

"Your daughter has incidentally fleed my hospital in a critical state, so I want you to help me find her before all her stitches snap."

The doctor hung up, and the blond let himself fall to the ground, defeated. He took his head in his hands. What had he done? If his daughter died because of him, he'd feel guilty for it. If he hadn't lectured her just now... He stood up, and woke Tessai, briefing him on the last events. He would simply have to stay awake in case Lisbeth came back here, while he went to fetch her.

"But Karakura isn't a tiny village, your daughter could have bled to death by the time you find her," objected the giant.

"Don't you think I know that?" sighed the blond. "I had in mind to ask the Visored to help me... Well, if Hiyori doesn't welcome me with her foot in my face. We have to hurry," he murmured to himself, and Tessai observed the former Soul Reaper's tense shoulders, and sincerely hoped the brunette was all right.

Liza Yadomaru pushed her glasses up her nose, deep in thought, while, in front of the group of Visored that had stayed in the real world, Urahara had kneeled so they would help him find his daughter. She never would have thought the blond could have a daughter one day. The group discussed the matter, more for the sake of it than anything, they had an enormous debt towards the Soul Reaper. They accepted, and the blond gave them each and every information on the girl. Liza didn't hear half of it, she already had an idea as to where to search for the young lady, if she had the same kind of mind as her father. She headed off for the train station, and found her sleeping, on one of the benches of the waiting room, a suitcase next to her. She stepped forwards to wake her when a detail caught her attention. The brunette's reiatsu. How could Urahara have not noticed it sooner? The kid must have had an incredible control over her reiatsu, if the former Captain hadn't felt the enormous pressure she gave off. The Visored got closer softly, but an announcement woke up the young girl, and she hid behind a pole. She would tail Lisbeth, then call Urahara once she was sure he could come to fetch her without trouble. She followed her when she took a train to a town Liza didn't know, and the hollowified Soul Reaper noticed that Lisbeth moved about like if she hadn't nearly gotten killed a few hours before. The Visored had a bad feeling about this, a really bad feeling.

The trip lasted two hours, after which Lisbeth left the train, Liza behind her like a ninja, and the brunette stayed on the platform, like if she was waiting for someone.

Which was indeed the case, since a young girl wearing a uniform, her black hair tied into double buns, pounced on the brunette without warning, shouting her name. From afar, she saw them talk, and saw the newcomer's face close up, but she didn't hear one word of the conversation. It's at that moment that she informed her colleagues, and continued tailing the brunette.

"Haruka, I need to see Natsu."

The young girl with the buns darkened. Natsu was the leader of _Devil's Game_ , if Lisbeth, who always tried having the least contact with them, needed to see him, and had even changed her mind, like said in her message, then it must have been really important. She nodded, pulling the brunette after her. They went through half of their hometown this way, before getting to an old abandoned sugar refinery, in the industrial zone of the town. Haruka walked up to a door and entered a digital code on a box. The door opened electrically, and Haruka let her friend in front of her before closing it, leaving without knowing it a Visored outside...

Lisbeth walked along the corridors that were familiar to her, while Haruka tried making her slow down, but without success, she needed to know what Fullbriger could be hurting her friends. She needed to know what was going on, and incidentally to defend herself, she didn't want to feel as useless as when she had seen Uryu fall onto the ground. Natsu hadn't promised to help her, but he had already done so, to control her reiatsu and so to ensure she wouldn't always be targeted by Hollows. He even had given her a way to protect herself during a few seconds, precious time to escape a Hollow. He didn't know what she was, but that, she was starting to understand that she might never find the answer, if even Uryu, though he seemed to know about lots of things, could not give her an answer. She hurtled like a fury, before barging, out of breath, in the main room of _Devil's Game_ , of which the headquarters was skillfully concealed by one of its members.

The seven Fullbringers that were part of the group turned to her, and Natsu stood up. He was a short and pretty lean man, with a strange top hat, that covered his oakum white hair. He had always reminded her of the Mad Hatter in Alice. She stood in front of him, hands on her hips, before declaring confidently:

"I need your help Natsu."

"What makes you think I would help you, you English?" he answered casually.

The nickname didn't even bother Lisbeth, with this old madman she had ended up getting used to it. Strange enough his laid-back attitude reminded her a moment of her father, that behaved the same way, but she pulled herself together and cast away her thoughts to concentrate on the only person that could help her, at least to her knowledge. She undid the first two buttons of her shirt to reveal the bandages that bounded her chest, making a murmur of disbelief rise within the group, and getting a yelp from her best friend. She looked straight into Natsu's green orbs and calmly declared:

"Early in the evening I was with a friend, who has the same problem as me. We saw a peculiar man on an electric pole. He used, and I am sure of that, a Fullbringer's capacity to move on, leaping from one house to another and walking in mid-air. My friend followed him, and I did too. That nearly got us killed. So Natsu, all I want is that you help me identify this prick and beat him so he can't hurt the ones who are dear to me again."

"No."

The answer was emphatic, and Lisbeth immediately asked why he refused.

"I can't help you, you English, even if your powers are similar to ours. It seems you are dangerous."

The brunette raised an eyebrow, before wanting more information, but the old man didn't let anything slip. She turned back to her friend, who was apparently just as shocked as her, when a man, that she hadn't noticed at first, stepped from behind a pole. Blond, his hair stopping at his chin, wearing a white shirt and tie. Lisbeth tensed, before turning to Natsu.

"You filthy prick, since when had you planned all this?"

"Haruka sent me a message to inform me of your arrival, and I myself sent a message to Shinji Hirako at that moment. I've known him longer than you, you English, and when I described your problem to him, he asked if he could meet you. I only gave him a way to do so... Now, run along, I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore."

The brunette barely managed to stop herself from pouncing on him, but for her friend's sake, she only turned on her heels and crossed the door, tears streaming down her face. She felt the blond was following her, but she didn't care much about it. He caught up with her and grabbed her wrist.

"Wait."

It was an order, the brunette could not mistake it. She turned towards the blond, and spat for him to deal with his own business.

"I can help you, with your powers. You've been seeing Hollows since you're little, right?"

She nodded, not understanding what the stranger was getting at, but if he could help her... She didn't trust him, however she was out of options. She couldn't imagine herself going back to her father's, who would surely question her mysteriously nearly healed wounds, and Natsu didn't want to see her again.

"What do you want with me?"

"To help you, as much as possible. And..."

He drew near to her ear before whispering to her:

"That you learn to control what you have inside of you."

She started, and pulled away from the blond's grasp, unsettled. How could he know about this? Even to Haruka she hadn't said a word of it.

She had never spoken about her interior Hollow.

Lisbeth became wary, and immediately got defensive.

"How can you have guessed? Who are you really?"

The blond laughed quietly.

"To know, you need to follow me. You comin'?"

He held his hand out to her. He felt something in the young brunette in front of him that was the same in Ichigo, Urahara must have seen one of the girl's parents go by, who must also be a former Soul Reaper, like Isshin. In any case, this young girl happened to have Soul Reaper and Hollow powers. And some way or another, this could be explained. He however could not leave her alone in the wide world. She was much too easy a prey...

The brunette in front of him hesitated, before taking his hand a sealing the tacit agreement.


	7. Chapter 6

**I discovered upon looking it up on the internet that 'proove' is a common misspelling of 'prove' (I didn't know). So I'm making an effort here to spell it the right way...**

 **Anyway, I am again so sorry for the lateness (I really have to stop being late, especially that much, don't I?) but I've been having such time problems that my morale was a bit low for me to deal with translating during the weekends (plus I had half of my holiday completely taken up and had to do all my homework on the other).**

 **I'm going to go change this thing about bucket hats.**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoy reading this, and thanks again Aurore Heart for this amazing story.**

 **Have a nice reading!**

* * *

Shinji sighed silently. He wasn't sure the teenager would accept, despite Natsu thinking so. It wasn't because one had nearly died that he or she would be ready do to anything, even following a stranger, just for it not to happen again. He gestured for her to follow, she obeyed him, though wary. He crossed the exit door and winced as he felt a familiar reiatsu... What was Lisa doing here? He did as if he hadn't felt anything, Lisbeth still behind him, but addressed her a slight nod to show he had noticed her.

He brought the young girl in a discreet and still open bar, then invited her to settle herself in a booth out of people's view. They ordered, then sat down. While waiting for somebody to come serve them, Shinji propped his chin onto his hands, elbows on the table, and gazed at Lisbeth.

"I assume you have a ton of questions to ask me, don't you?"

"A few, indeed," she admitted. "First who are you? A Soul Reaper? A Quincy? A Fullbringer?"

The blond frowned, he hadn't thought she would know this much.

"Who told you so many things? Surely it's not Natsu, he would have made you pay far too much for this information, besides, you're not a Fullbringer, he wouldn't have been pleased to give it to you..."

"I don't see why this would interest you," she replied sharply. "And you haven't answered my question."

"I'm not really part of any of the categories you've named..." said Shinji calmly, an amused smile on his lips. "Did you ever hear of the Visored?"

The brunette's lost expression said it all. She gazed at him with her grey eyes and demanded more details. He replied with the same tone that it was him helping her, not the opposite, so he could very well change his mind if she wasn't more polite than this. She breathed deeply, before asking with an icy and sarcastic tone if Mr. Hirako would mind to provide her with the details she wished to know. He held back a smile, before explaining:

"Visored are a slightly apart category of Soul Reapers. It's a mix between a Soul Reaper and a Hollow, as one may say."

"Oh, now that you say so, I remember, Ur... A friend mentioned it to me. But I am not a Soul Reaper," she countered, blowing on her hair strand. "I'd know if it was the case."

Shinji shook his head.

"Not necessarily, if one of your parents is a deserting Soul Reaper, you can have Soul Reaper powers. And then for the Hollow side... In this case I have to admit we don't know how to explain it."

"And in general? How does a Soul Reaper become a Visored?"

The blond cringed, and was about to look for something to answer when Lisbeth stopped him. She had felt it was a subject he wasn't ready to talk about, and she respected others' wishes. So she moved on to the subject that mattered the most to her right now.

"You... You really can help me control my Hollow?"

There was a hopeful note in her voice that didn't escape the Visored. He nodded.

"Prove it to me, please."

The young woman was wary. On the one side he could understand her, on the other it annoyed him. His cell phone vibrated - yes, the Visored had started using phones at the time when they were still banished from the Soul Society, it was more low-key than a Hell butterfly to send messages -, and gestured for Lisbeth to wait.

It was a message from Liza. He frowned as he read it, then sighed. This could explain a lot of things... If Urahara was the girl's father, then it could explain her latent Soul Reaper powers and her high reiatsu, as for her inner Hollow... The former Captain probably had an explanation in mind. As he went on reading he stopped himself from cringing. How had Lisbeth managed to get in such conflict with her father that she would go as far as to leave the hospital right after she'd nearly gotten killed? He glanced at the young girl, that was waiting for him to finish reading his message, and Shinji remembered the bandages she had shown the Fullbringers. If she had been in a state as bad as what Liza described, they should have been bloodstained from all her movements that would have made some of her stitching go undone... So her Hollow probably had regeneration powers. Not a good thing, these were the hardest to defeat. He put away his phone and turned back his attention to the brunette, who only let her impatience show through her fingers lightly tapping the edge of the table, then answered her previous question.

"I could prove it to you, but not in a place like this, and even less while I'm inside my Gigai."

She lifted an eyebrow, not seeming to know the word, but did not ask for details. Strange. Or maybe she knew what it was but did not want to show him the extent of her knowledge. This last theory seemed more likely to him.

She interrupted his thinking by laying her hands on the table.

"Very well, assuming you are telling the truth, how do you intend on helping me? What are the conditions and counterparts?"

"Oh, so you think there will be counterparts?"

Shinji had an amused smile, Lisbeth really was interesting, and seemed much more implicated in her business than her father. But anyway Kisuke was unique, and his daughter, by the one fact of not getting along with him, already showed she wasn't much like him, for the temper at least. He laughed briefly, before reassuring her.

"We only ask of you that you don't reveal our existence to someone without telling us first, and that you help us if we ask you to. For the conditions... You won't be able to return to school before you have controlled your Hollow, and might as well warn you, you could very well die. Only I don't think you have any more than six years to live, and still, I'm generous, if you don't learn to control it and so to lower your reiatsu, because might as well admit you are an enticing target."

"So I don't really have a choice, since I'll die young anyways, if I understand you correctly."

"Exactly."

Lisbeth sighed, then, resettling herself in her chair, she closed her eyes to think. It matched what Natsu and Uryu had told her: her spiritual power, that escaped without her knowledge, even if she had learned to lower and hide it, lured the most powerful and dangerous Hollows. Besides, that was why Uryu had taken the habit of escorting her back part of her way when their classes ended at the same hour - which meant nearly every day, except when he had his club to go to - and several times that had probably saved her life without her knowing. She sighed again and looked straight into the Visored's grey eyes.

"Can I stay in contact with my friends?"

"Not the ones who don't know about your powers. This leaves you the young Haruka from _Devil's Game_ , Ury... only, I think?"

He had stopped himself just in time, he had nearly talked about the young Quincy and Ichigo's group, which would probably have alerted Lisbeth, he wasn't supposed to know them!

She nodded to say she understood, and a waiter came up at that moment, laying their command on the table. The brunette paid for both of them before Shinji even got the time to take out his wallet.

"You weren't forced to pay," he commented.

"You're not forced to help me," she retorted with a small smile, sure to have shut him up.

"We wouldn't want our existence to be put in peril by a little girl who thinks she has an answer to everything."

"It is you who's trying to be right at any cost and it's me the little girl? _Bravo_ , what a wonderful proof of maturity!" she said sarcastically.

Shinji breathed slowly, and restrained from letting his head fall to the table and complaining. He corrected what he had said earlier: Lisbeth was similar to her father concerning her sense of humor. Why had he volunteered to offer her to be part of the Visored? He should have let Kensei, or Love, or anybody else go! Lisbeth started drinking her tea, watching him with a mocking smile he'd have wanted to strangle her for - before remembering she would suffer largely enough for him not to answer back, even if he longed to do so - and when she put down her cup on the saucer she whispered:

"I've considered all the risks, and I accept your offer."

Shinji held back a smile, like if the girl had a choice. Even if she had said no he would still have brought her along. He'd only need to put a sleeping tablet in her drink... Yes, it wasn't very honorable, but the Soul Society wouldn't have appreciated treceivinga soul with uncontrolled Visored powers if Lisbeth died, and they would be the ones to get in trouble. So yes, but no thanks, he had been banned for a century, he wasn't going to be again!

They finished their drinks in silence then walked out, and it was Lisbeth who continued the conversation first.

"Where are we going?"

"Karakura."

Shinji saw the young woman's quick frown before she resumed her impassive face. She apparently didn't like the news. Her relationship with Urahara was that bad? What had that idiot done this time? Because to Shinji, most of the faults were clearly the former Captain's, horrible at human relationships, you only needed to see the conflicting and complicated relationship he shared with Hiyori, his former Lieutenant. It wasn't because he cared about her that he would show it... So with his own daughter, he must have damaged her esteem. He would see what he could do to help it get better, because he might need him at some point... Suddenly a part of their discussion came back to him.

'Can I stay in contact with my friends?'

She hadn't asked for her family. Was it that bad?

"Lisbeth, why didn't you ask if you could stay in contact with your family? You must surely have one?"

"If you can call it a family," she hissed. "And anyway... I guess the restriction is the same as for my friends, so it wouldn't have been necessary."

Shinji didn't insist, but he made sure to remember to go kick Urahara's ass, and ask Yoruichi to do so too. The 12th Squad's former Captain should have briefed his daughter, at least to protect her, especially when feeling her reiatsu!

Yeah, he was going to kick his ass... unless Hiyori did it for him.


	8. Chapter 7

**Hi...**

 **I'm so sorry - again - for the lateness... I've had trouble dealing with my life - and parents - these last few months... But I'm back! So here's one more translated chapter of Aurore Heart's 'What Her Heart Wishes'! Hope you'll like it...**

 **Hey guys, I really need your advice on this: I've originally watched all Bleach in French, and wasn't able to find any 'official' English version on internet, but noticed that Shinji's speech usually had lots of 'ya' instead of 'you' and stuff like that (which it doesn't AT ALL have in French... Well, French people rarely write accents down). I used that in this chapter, which I didn't do in the previous ones. I really need to know if this is a good idea, and if I'm doing it right. It takes literally TWO F* SECONDS to review if you're logged in, so could you tell me what you think of this** _ **please**_ **? I really need help...**

 **One last thing. Did I write the Kidou right? I only know it in French too...**

 **And now, read and enjoy!**

* * *

The noise of the train's wheels on the track created a sad and repetitive melody that made Lisbeth doze off, and Shinji used her slumber to call Liza. It was short, but nevertheless got enough time to tell her everything he wanted to, which was to inform Urahara that his daughter was with the Visored and to notify the group of their arrival. And above all, that she tell them not to unveil her father's activities to the young woman. It was his responsibility - and his only - to tell her if he wanted to. The brunette awoke as soon as he hung up, and glanced at him with two sleepy eyes.

"Ya can go back ta sleep, we ain't there yet."

"I don't think I'll be able to," she sighed, lifting her strand of hair.

Shinji shrugged, he wasn't in her head so he couldn't tell, and anyway she would have enough time to sleep once they were at the Visored's headquarters. The two fell silent again while Lisbeth gazed out the window. It was nighttime, and the blond wondered what she was seeing outside to seem so absorbed. She must have felt he was watching her because she turned her head slightly towards him in an inquisitive manner.

"What are ya lookin' at outside?"

"Nothing. I'm not watching the landscape," she certified before taking her eyes back to the window pane.

This teenager surely was strange. Even stranger than her father, and that was saying something. Shinji sighed before directing his eyes to the ceiling and tried to think of something else. Like his division for example... He hoped his Lieutenant hadn't noticed he had disappeared or he was going to hear about it for a while since Toshiro - sorry, Captain Hitsugaya - was going to hold it against him. He could be so irritating sometimes... The commander of the fifth division was starting to get really bored, and decided to question the young woman more personally, hoping she would be okay with answering.

"Hey, Lisbeth..."

"Yes?"

The tone was wary and tired. Shinji translated it as a 'Why the hell can't this jerk leave me bloody alone' and had a fox's smile.

"... d'ya have a boyfriend?"

Upon hearing the question, he brunette swallowed her saliva sideways, nearly choking, and glared at him, her cheeks as red as apples.

"That... That's not your business!" she stammered.

The blond's smile got wider, he loved to know everybody's little secrets, and Lisbeth's reaction was one most intriguing, he wished to know more, much more... He settled comfortably in his seat, and propped his elbows on his knees, his hands under his chin.

"Come on, such a pretty girl as ya can't possibly be single!"

The comment made the teenager's face darken, and Shinji sensed he had misstepped.

"Indeed, she could be _not_ single," she answered with a tone sour enough to corrode steel, "if she wasn't a living Hollow lure. So leave me alone now."

She returned to muteness and the captain knew he had rubbed salt into a vivid wound. Tears build up in her grey eyes but without flowing, and he felt a bit guilty.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"You don't need to be," said Lisbeth with a voice hoarsened by the contained tears. "It's not your fault."

She only had a gaping hole in her heart. A stranger was more interested in her than her own father, and this conclusion was painful, very painful. At that moment she realized she still hoped her father would ask her forgiveness, and that he would try to get better, to get closer to her. She still hoped despite what had happened, even though she knew what she was about to do would make the distance between them greater still. But since the very moment she had accepted the Visored's offer, she had no other choice than to disavow her father, because how could he understand, and moreover accept it? Anyway she was likely to die, as the blond had warned her, so she had to start her grieving now and tell herself she had no more family. She had only Haruka and Uryu left, as well as the other Visored, if they accepted her.

And strangely the aspect of not being able to consider Kisuke as her father anymore made long-restained tears flow. She didn't lift her hand up to wipe them away, letting them slid down her face. It all needed to come out, she needed to express her pain. She had trouble understanding herself, she didn't know why she felt this feeling of loss even though she had never really considered the adult as someone she could rely on.

The train slowed then halted, and a disembodied voice announced the stop. Lisbeth wiped her tears quickly with her sleeve, before turning to Shinji, that picked up her luggage and motioning for her to follow. They got off, and the blond walked quickly to the exit, the teenager right behind him. The sun was already starting to show and the sky was reddening slowly in the distance. The brunette felt her heartache thinking back to yesterday's events, that already seemed a century old, and worried about Uryu. She hoped he was well. Guilt surged through her, if she hadn't insisted on stopping by Ichigo's, her friend wouldn't be in a hospital bed...

"Shinji?"

The addressed turned and knitted his brows, intrigued, before saying:

"Yes?"

"Could I go see a friend afterwards?"

"He knows?"

She nodded, and Shinji accepted, which brought a small tired smile to the tear-reddened face. They took a taxi that dropped them off at the angle of an isolated street, and, taking the brunette's luggage, the Visored headed for a disused and apparently badly-kept warehouse. He felt Lisbeth behind him hesitate a bit, before gathering her courage and following him, crossing at the same time as him the barrier that partly hid the building and repelled nosy people. The teenager shivered and pulled her jacket tighter against her, before asking him warily what it was. He explained briefly, and that relaxed her a bit. Just a bit.

Now she was starting to worry about the welcome the other Visored would give her, and she fidgeted with her watchband, having no collar she could bother. Shinji noticed and tried reassuring her:

"Calm down, they won't eat ya, we're only eight, and there are three ya won't meet before a long time, maybe never, even."

"If I die before, right?" she said with a resigned smile.

"Exactly, ya get it quickly."

They fell silent again, and she continued following the blond, with however more and more apprehension. She felt uneasy in the building that seemed abandoned to her, and she suddenly missed the little shop where she lived with her father. Despite its emptiness, it breathed with life, with Ururu and Jinta, that made it lively, and Tessai that was always there to welcome her when she came back from school. Even Yoruichi, with her exuberance, seemed better than the sinister building in which she was. She started doubting the greatness of her idea. Shinji could very well be a psychopath, or a serial killer, and she his next victim, even if he was probably a Soul Reaper. One did not preclude the others.

She watched the blond's back carefully, and the very annoying little voice in her head started making itself heard again:

" _You know, one word from you and he would no longer be a problem... Stop getting yourself worked up..._ "

She gritted her teeth, she had to stop herself from answering her inner Hollow, it always made her go crazy in the end. But because of that, she didn't notice she was letting go of her reiatsu, and Shinji, instinctively assuming she was about to attack, reacted immediately.

"Number one bakudou, Sai!"

Instantly Lisbeth's hands were in her back, incapable of moving, and she hiccupped in shock. Her eyes met the brown and slightly awkward ones of the Visored, and they gazed at each other for a split second, until the blond did a motion with his hand and the brunette was freed. She was about to yell at him, when he said, on a dead serious tone:

"Don't let go of your reiatsu without warnin', gets me nervous. 'T would be a shame to ruin such a pretty face as yours..."

She gifted him with a dark look, her lips pursed, rubbing her shoulders. That idiot _had_ indeed hurt her! At least, she was now sure he definitely wasn't human. She had no idea what the Visored had used to immobilize her, and she doubted a normal person could use it. Strangely enough, that only partly reassured her... Suddenly, it occurred to her she would have preferred, no, she _should_ have stayed at the hospital, away from trouble, even if that meant she had to endure her idiot of a father.

Shinji ignored the brunette's anger and resumed walking along the dark corridor, and she followed him, so as to not end up alone, even if she was now alert, even more than before. She wouldn't let him immobilize her again without defending herself. Or at least trying.

" _There's another solution though, Lili... Why won't you let me help?_ "

Her inner Hollow's voice was like a whine, and Lisbeth gritted her teeth. No, she couldn't kill it just because it used the nickname she hated... Anyways, she rightfully knew she couldn't kill it, only ignore it, and even that...

The Visored suddenly stopped in front of a square cut out from the ground, from which flowed light.

"The others are down there, they're waitin' for ya. They'll explain whatever ya want ta know."

"You're not coming with me?" she suddenly worried.

True, she wasn't at ease with him, but he was the only Visored she knew, she didn't want to end up alone!

"No, I have things to do elsewhere."

He came up to her, laying his hand on her shoulder, and looked right into her eyes.

"But everythin's gonna be alright, okay? There ain't any cannibals among the Visored, so none of them will eat ya. An' if really ya're scared out of your wits... Think of somebody you love ta give you courage and just go fer it."

She nodded, and the blond let go before passing by her and leaving the opposite way. She half-turned around to watch him leave, then once she could no longer see him, she walked up to the square in the floorboards from which the light came. She noticed it was a hatch with stairs, and from where she was she could see the floor was yellowish, like sand. She breathed in deeply, and did as Shinji had advised her. She focused on the memories she had of her mother, smiling and always in a good mood, her extremely energetic and over-protective mother. A wave of heat enfolded her, and she felt like she was wrapped in her mother's arms. That soothed her, and she felt ready to confront the group of Visored. She started down the steps, and a bright light suddenly blinded her. She blinked several times, trying to get used to the intense brightness. Once she was, she got surprised by the impressive size of the place. It looked like a huge desert under a sky of a very artificial-looking blue. Her attention was then caught by a group of four people, who hadn't seen her arrive, apparently engaged in some fierce argument. Two men and two women. Well... rather a woman and a kid. Why was that? Simple, one of the two girls must have been half her height, and her blond hair tied into two ponytails didn't make her look taller. The other was a woman with long black hair braided into two plaits and oval glasses, dressed in some sort of uniform, but the aura she gave off made her age clear, she was far from being a schoolgirl. She was seated on the ground, well, rather on a blanket placed on the ground, and was reading a book. She was the first to notice her, and she addressed her a smile before getting back to her book, announcing in a calm and composed voice:

"The newbie's just arrived."

That stopped the debate, and the three others looked up towards her. The two men's appearance made her smile inwardly. One had a star-shaped afro hairstyle and the other looked like a great affectionate teddy, at least to her. The kid came to stand before her and examined her, fists on her hips. Lisbeth let her, a shudder running through her upon meeting the ferocious brown gaze.

"So it's for you that Shinji moved himself? Tch, he's gonna have to go buy himself glasses, I don't see how you could be a danger."

The brunette stood up and came to hit the kid's head with her book.

"Ow, what's wrong with you Liza?!" raged the blond. "You wanna fight or something?"

She threw her a bored glance, before turning to Lisbeth, who was starting to wonder if she might not be unwelcome...

"Don't bother about what Hiyori might say, she's always aggressive. I'm Liza Yadoumaru, pleased to meet you."

She extended her hand that Urahara's daughter shook, a bit uneasy, then got acquainted with the rest of the group. The one that looked like a teddy was called Hachigen Ushouda, the one with the weird afro haircut was Love Aikawa, and lastly the kid was Hiyori Sarugaki.

And inwardly the latter had only one thing she wanted to do: go place a big kick in Urahara's face for keeping secrets. He _did_ know it never served him well...

* * *

 **Late T/N: So I learned recently that Shinji's speach in English was due to an accent he apparently has (the Kansai accent I think? Must be a Japanese region?) so I decided to ask Aurore Heart about it. I'll be changing either this chapter or the other ones according to her answer.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Ooooookay. I'm back.**

 **I've had a troublesome life these last few months, and when I started getting better I finally got started on my fanfiction so... Yeah. Sorry... T_T**

 **But don't worry though. I'm not leaving this unfinished. You might wait 30 years for the next chapter but that won't stop me from finishing it. Nope.**

 **Oh, and I've corrected soooo many mistakes (mostly spelling) in the last chapters. Should be pretty much clear now, but if you find any more I'd be glad to know about them.**

 **Argh... You know another tough thing about translating? In French the adjectives show you if you're talking about a girl or a guy. So in French there's 'la blonde' and 'le blond', while in English, it's just 'the blond' for both... Same problem with 'brunette'... Which makes it hard to understand... But you're not idiots (I expect) so...** _ **you**_ **deal with it :P**

* * *

Hiyori had waited for the newbie to be asleep to go inform Urahara. Knowing him, he was probably horribly worried without showing it. But according to what Lisbeth had said, it wasn't the first time... She went from one roof to the next, using shunpo to g faster. This way, she landed in front of the shop, visitor-less at such an early hour, dawn only just starting to show. She slipped in through a left open window, and needn't search for her former Captain because of how well his reiatsu was easy to feel from where she was. He wasn't alone, there was also Tessai, Yoruichi and the two kids from the shop. She used that as a guide, soon getting to a lit room. She walked in without warning, startling the occupants. The blond was the first to react.

"Hiyori, tell me you've found her!"

The blond watched her former Captain in disbelief. She had understood that he cared about the girl, but not _that_ much. His clothes were in an even greater mess than usual, and all his worry and strain showed on his face. Where had his impassivity gone? He must have searched for his daughter all night, but that only irritated Hiyori.

She had talked with the brunette a bit, and had changed her mind. She was an intelligent but reserved young woman, that didn't like drawing attention to her, and that cared about her rare familial relationships. She had admitted to her that no longer being able to see her father, despite their distance, saddened her. And Kisuke, that idiot, ruining the chances he had with his daughter... If he had told her the truth at the very beginning, he might of have been able to fix things before they got this bad. But Lisbeth had nearly gotten killed, all of this because she had no idea what she was, because _Mister Urahara_ had kept his little secrets to himself...

The small Soul Reaper blew up. She jumped and kicked him in the face, not the least hiding how much better it made her feel.

"You... You... You nasty little... Do you even have any idea what your own daughter might be feeling right now, thinking she has to let go of you because she doesn't know you're a former Soul Reaper and that she's well off the become a Visored, ready to die for it? Do you have the slightest idea how much the distance you put in between both of you hurt her?"

"Who the hell are you? And why are you attacking our boss!" raged a boy with red hair, that Yoruichi silenced with a look.

"A... A Visored?"

Paleness settled into Kisuke's face. No... Not his daughter. Lisbeth couldn't be a future Visored. There was just no way that was possible.

"Hiyori, you're kidding, right?"

His former Lieutenant's livid and slightly sad look convinced him she wasn't joking. He pulled his bucket hat down before his eyes, not wanting to let his pain and rage show. Why her? She still had her whole life ahead, so why, why did she have a damn Hollow inside her? How was it even possible? Shit, had Aizen found her, used the Hogyoku on her and had wanted to use his child against Soul Society?

"I want to see her."

Hiyori shook her head, before plunging her gaze into the grey eyes.

"No. Stay out of it. It's better for both of you. You should have taken the first step earlier. You greatly hurt her, and I don't think the Great Urahara would be ready to ask forgiveness from anybody. You haven't been the father she needed, she lost her mother dammit! Couldn't you have, I don't know, for once been more serious and responsable?"

A blade couldn't have hurt him more than the words she used. He didn't even try defending himself, he knew he had messed up since the hospital, where his daughter had said he had no right to consider her as such. Surprisingly enough, it is Yoruichi that took his defense.

"We all know what method you intend to use to wake her latent Soul Reaper powers and to teach her to control her Hollow. But you know as well as me that it could just as well kill her. Leave them a chance to meet up and talk about things first."

Hiyori sighed. She had to admit she had taken this option into account, but she thought it might be too early, Lisbeth was still too angry and jurt by the blond's attitude. But Yoruichi actually giving her the choice.

"So we'll come tonight and let them talk."

The short Soul Reaper searched Tessai's eyes for help, who added as if to make it worse:

"I believe I should be there too, and that we should explain to her where the Visored come from originally."

No, she couldn't kill him, he was much stronger than her, but the wish was there. In fact, she shouldn't have insisted that much to come, and let Liza do it... In the end she gave up.

"I'll have warned you, if Lisbeth doesn't want to listen to you, it's your problem... Oh and, Kisuke..."

The blond looked up, and jumped to kick him again.

"You'd better make up for it all, you idiot, or I promise you I'll make you regret it. And wipe that defeated look off your face, it looks creepy."

"Hiyori... Thank you. Could you keep an eye on her?"

"I'm not a nanny, Kisuke. But I like her."

The blond went to one of the room's windows and opened it, then used shunpo to leave. Yoruichi turned to her despondent friend.

"Hey, Kisuke, you're not going to wallow in self-pity, are you?" she said in a sad voice.

She herself was affected by what was happening. The girl had her whole life left, she should never have been stricken by this... yes, this curse. Ichigo had been the first, but in his case, they knew why he had developed these faculties. But in Lisbeth's... It was so unfair, she had never mixed with Soul Reapers until recently. So why had she an inner Hollow?

Kisuke stood up, and motioned to her that he was going down to the training area. A few moments later the shop shook. The blond was putting his rage and sorrow into training.

 _ **ligne**_

Liza watched in surprise the brunette coming towards her. The latter had only fallen asleep a few hours ago, which not enough to have recovered from a sleepless night.

"Already up?"

"I wanted to go see a friend, so there is no reason to wait."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, it's not necessary..."

"Because you seriously think we'd let you go alone, you walking Hollow bait!"

The mini-Visored's voice came banging in her ears, and Lisbeth, being in a horrible mood and having little patience, turned to face her. The blond was apparently in as good a mood as her, and she couldn't help but ask why. The blond sighed.

"Someone I don't like that much is coming tonight," she briefly explained.

Liza pushed her glasses up her nose with the tip of her fingers, asking the small Visored if she was serious. When she nodded, Lisbeth felt the dark-haired Visored's gaze on her back. She had a bad feeling about this. She suddently wasn't in a hurry to get the said evening.

"So, where is that friend you want to visit, I don't have all day," said Hiyori, impatiently tapping her foot.

"He is at the hospital of Karakura."

"You fled from it and you want to go back there? Are you insane?!" exclamed the blond.

"Isn't it in this case that you go to a hospital?" said Lisbeth ironically, smiling slightly.

A vein swelled at the former twelfth division's Lieutenant's temple, and the latter pounced on the young woman, grabbing her shirt's collar and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Your gonna stop kidding around _now_ , or I'm smashing your face, is that clear?"

Lisbeth understood she meant it, and since she wasn't that good a fighter she nodded and shut up. The blond let go and, steadying herself, walked to the stairs. Seeing that Kisuke's daughter wasn't following, she yelled back:

"Are you coming or staying here?"

The brunette gulped and quickly followed her. As she watched them go Liza sighed. She didn't particularily want to be there that evening to see the confrontation of the father and daughter. Maybe she should inform the others, so they wouldn't get caught off guard.

In the meanwhile, the two girls had arrived at the hospital. They didn't stop at the reception, and the Visored, surprised, asked:

"You know what room your friend is in?"

"Yes."

Hiyori noticed Lisbeth seemed a bit anxious, and that she kept fiddling with her watch's bracelet. She didn't bother her with it, but made sure to remember it, thinking that it might come in handy at some point. As for the brunette... well, she didn't really know how Uryu would react to her being there, especially about her inner Hollow. She was scared that one of the only people she had left would reject her. She got more and more nervous as they neared her friend's room, and once they got to the door she hesitated to knock.

"Go for it, or you'll regret it," said Kiyori suddently, knocking in her place. "I'll wait for you outside."

So Lisbeth had no other choice but to enter. She closed the door behind her and walked closer to the bed. Her heart clenched. Uryu lied on the bed, paler than ever, and the bandages around his torso were enough to remind her she hadn't been able to help him. Sudden guilt filled her, after all nothing would have happened if she hadn't insisted on going at Ichigo's, and she was about to turn back when the boy's voice rose:

"Lisbeth? For goodness' sake, I was worried sick for you! Are you okay?"

She couldn't escape this now, so she walked towards the bed, grabbing a chair along the way, and sat by her friend's side. Uryu scrutinized her, analyzing the abscence of bandages, the wrinkled and slightly dirty shirt as well as the dark rings under the young woman's grey eyes. She hadn't gone home, he was sure of that, but she had found a place to sleep, even if she wasn't properly rested.

"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry for me."

"It's not with that recently-dug-up-zombie-face of yours that I'm going to believe you and stop worrying for a friend."

This plucked a smile from Lisbeth, and the boy internally congratulated himself, he didn't like seeing his friends being miserable, especially the brunette who tended to stay away from the group, in fear of putting them in danger. If only she knew...

"And with your father?"

The young woman's face darkened.

"I... I can't see him anymore." She breathed in hurriedly, and before her dunbstruck friend could interrupt her, she continued: "There's something I need to tell you. I know what I am, now. I... I have..."

He nodded encouragingly to her, somewhat knowing what she was going to say, even if he didn't understand why she couldn't see Urahara, he was a Soul Reaper as well after all.

"I have Soul Reaper powers and an inner Hollow," she said.

She waited, terrified, head lowered, to see her friend's reaction to the news, her fingers crumpling the edge of her shirt. A hand was placed on her arm, and she rose her eyes to the brunette, of whom she wasn't able to decipher the gaze.

"Did you find a Visored to help you?"

She nodded as a positive answer, and her friend smiled, telling her he was relieved.

"You... Thank you."

Lisbeth didn't know how to tell how happy she was. A weight had been taken off her shoulders. Uryu accepted her as she was, and that warmed her heart. Tears of relief streamed down her cheeks, dripping onto the bedsheets, and she was about to wipe them away when the brunette did so in her place.

"Why are you crying?"

"I-I was scared that you wouldn't accept me. I already can't tell anything to my father, or to our friends, they wouldn't understand, I didn't want to lose another person I cared for."

Uryu's hand dropped back onto the bed. Seeing his friend's sadness, he wanted to tell her about Ichigo and the others, about all they had already gone through together, but he felt it wasn't the right moment. Not with whoever had attacked them not far from here and whom he suspected were after their group of friends. And with him being in this hospital bed... And, if she didn't know about her father, he wasn't the person meant to tell her. Nevertheless, he couldn't stand seeing her so unhappy.

"Hey, I'm sure they'll accept you. If you want when I get out of here, I'll explain it all myself."

"Uryu... I don't even know if I'll survive. Please, don't tell them anything."

"Lisbeth, you can't be serious!"

She looked away, and sighing, he asked her if she could help him sit up. So she helped him up, and against all expectations, he put his arms around her and settled his head on her shoulder.

"You'd better not die, or I'll come kick your soul's ass."

The thoughtfulness made her blush, and she shook his off stuttering. Uryu's cheeks had reddened as well, a little sheepish and surprised by he had spontaneously done, and he looked away. Lisbeth said bye and left the room, her cheeks as red as tomatoes, which made her Hiyori's target. The brunette didn't care. Uryu had held her in his arms...

Now that she thought about it, what had been this fluttering in her stomach?


End file.
